Property Fraud Alert Service Can Protect Property Owners

Recently, a North Texas woman lost ownership of her home when a
fraudulent deed was filed transferring ownership of her residence,
according to news reports. Because mortgage fraud continues to be a
nationwide problem, Tarrant County offers a free service that can
protect property owners.

“Foreclosures were once the preferred target for criminals trying to
take property from homeowners unlawfully,” said Tarrant County Clerk
Mary Louise Garcia. “However, as foreclosure rates plummet,
criminals have modified their tactics.”

The most likely method will be introducing fraudulent documents in
the County Clerk’s Office that could cloud title or ownership of
property, she said. Each month her employees reject suspicious
documents that persons attempt to enter in the land records that could
potentially cloud home ownership.

Their job is made easier by the Property Fraud Alert (PFA) service
that helps to protect homeowners from such fraud. PFA is a free
on-line notification service that alerts subscribers via email or
telephone each time a document is recorded in the County Clerk’s
office with their name listed as a signing party. More than 36,000
Tarrant County residents have subscribed to protect themselves since
2009 when the program was implemented.

It only takes a few moments to sign up for the service. Property
owners may go to www.tarrantcounty.com, and
then select Sign Up For from the I Want To area of the page.
Participants will be notified only when the exact name they have
provided is listed as a ‘Grantor’ or ‘Grantee’ on any of 90 different
document types recorded in the County Clerk’s Office. A participant
will be provided a link directly to the document in question. PFA is
customizable in that alerts can be generated by email or telephone
call from a PFA representative.

For more information, please contact Mary Louise Garcia, the County
Clerk, at 817-884-1070.

News release date: November 18, 2014

TARRANT COUNTY, TEXAS

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